New York Needs a Clean, Safe Energy Supply
by Alix Gerosa
Continuing efforts to bring clean energy to the Hudson Valley, Scenic Hudson has joined the New York State Sustainable Energy Campaign in calling on state policymakers to make the draft state energy plan, or SEP, a viable, enforceable blueprint for energy-sector decision making.
In March we submitted formal comments on the SEP and its accompanying draft environmental impact statement, both issued by the New York State Energy Planning Board. The board consists of the state's Energy Research and Development Authority, Public Service Commission, Empire State Development Corp. and departments of Transportation and Environmental Conservation.
We recommended that the SEP include not just broad policy direction but specific goals, objectives and deadlines for a clean, safe power supply. It also needs to be integrated with other state and regional plans.
Specifically we appealed to policymakers to increase investment and reliance on renewable energy sources and conservation measures, reform siting legislation and reduce dependence on nuclear power, including the immediate closure of Indian Point to review its safety and security.
Conserve, Invest and Renew
A clean energy future depends on reduced demand. Scenic Hudson has asked the planning board to expand existing efficiency programs, invest in conservation and set a goal of reducing energy demand by at least 10 percent by 2012.
The state should create a conservation contingency plan for emergencies or peak periods. In California concerns about short supplies stimulated short-term conservation measures that shrunk usage by 12 percent.
New York State also needs to promote sustainable, renewable electric generation. According to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the state imports 89 percent of its energy at a cost of $38.4 billion a year.
With its abundant, untapped renewable energy resources, the state should follow 12 others that have established a renewable portfolio standard, which requires that by 2012 10 percent of power come from technologies such as wind, solar or sustainable biomass. At the very least, the SEP ought to analyze the impact of a renewable portfolio standard on New York State markets and prices.
Close Indian Point
Recent events have highlighted the vulnerability of Indian Point and other nuclear power plants to terrorist attacks. Many groups, including Scenic Hudson, have joined the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition and called for an immediate shutdown of the plant's reactors.
The facility's inadequate security, ongoing operational problems and outdated evacuation protocol have raised considerable public concern, particularly among the more than 20 million people who work and live within 50 miles of the plant. Valley residents also fear that Indian Point's waste and radioactive emissions are damaging their health and environment.
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TIP: Tell Gov. George E. Pataki that you support a carbon cap on power plants so New York State can begin to address global warming. A statewide cap should be included in recommendations due later this year from the governor's Greenhouse Gas Task Force.
For more information, please visit Environmental Advocates New York's Cap Carbon in New York Web site.
Write Gov. Pataki: State Capitol, Albany, N.Y., 12224.
Call (518) 474-8390 or fax (518) 474-1513. |
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According to a recent Marist Institute for Public Opinion poll, 62 percent of residents living within 10 miles of Indian Point and 54 percent of those within a 50-mile radius of the plant believe it should be taken off-line. Eighty-two percent who think the plant should be closed are undeterred by possible cost increases, and 71 percent are not put off by losing some plant jobs or tax revenues.
Government leaders should plan for uninterrupted power to Westchester County and New York City if Indian Point is decommissioned.
Article X Reform
Article X, the state statute governing the siting of power plants, needs reform. Scenic Hudson supports the SEP's recommendation to add the state's Department of State and Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to Article X proceedings to consider impacts on coastal programs and historic resources. The process also ought to analyze issues such as environmental justice, fine particulate matter, alternative sites and needs assessments. |
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| Twenty-one million of us live in what the Nuclear Regulatory Commission calls the "peak injury" zone – a 50-mile radius - centered on Indian Point's nuclear facility. Source: Riverkeeper |
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